Now and Then
by QueenSabeth
Summary: Lelouch can't remember anything, but the past 12 years of torture. Suzaku remembers the happy little prince he once knew. Nunnally can't move on after her family was brutally torn apart. But Lelouch manages to escape and meets Suzaku, for him, the first time. A Suzalulu and Anastasia inspired AU.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: The Girl with His Eyes**

A man scrambled through the dark passage, his barefoot getting caught on the jagged grooves and edges poking out of the uneven cement of the tunnel floor. He was sent sprawling to the ground, hands and knees scrapping against the ground with an agonizing sting, when he tripped for what felt like the millionth gritted his teeth and pushed himself shakily up off the cold damp concrete.

He continued to run at an even pace, but was beginning to feel run down as he kept tripping and stumbling through the darkness. He groaned, picking himself back up out of a puddle of chilling water that he had fallen into. He tried to shake the water off after getting up; also trying to shake off the slight dizziness he was feeling.

His collection of cuts and bruises were gradually growing and exhaustion was finally starting to take its toll. He came to a much-needed stop and leaned against the inner wall of the tunnel, sliding down it until he reached the floor. He was breathing heavily and if he could see anything he was sure that he would've been able to see his breath.

His breathing eventually slowed, and at that point he was honestly considering giving up. He thought about how easy it would be to just give up; he had been struggling for far too long. He lulled his head to the side, his eyes half-lidded as he felt the need to rest taking over, and then he suddenly saw something. He jerked his head up at something that looked, to him, like freedom. He got up, put his weight heavily on the wall and inched closer to the glimpse of hope that he was seeing. He brought himself up to the light, it was just a crack in the wall, but it was the first sign of hope he'd seen. It wasn't exactly the light at the end of the tunnel he had been hoping for, merely a sliver of light peeking through, but it was worth something. He approached the crack fully, squinting as he tried to peer through it.

The piercing sunlight made his eyes burn from not being exposed to it for so long, and the only thing he could see through it was the blinding light. For the first time he felt something, something similar to a feeling of longing. He finally sighed and turned away, rubbing his eyes, but when he opened them again there was something that flashed through them. Conviction and newfound determination were the only emotions that showed in his eyes, the rest of his face blank and expressionless, as he had learned to wear it. His deep purple eyes narrowed with that newfound emotion, quickly coming to the decision that he couldn't give up, he had to keep going. He couldn't give up, not yet, not after he had struggled so much to get to that point. Not when he still had a reason to live, something to strive for.

It had been a little more than two hours since he had started down the seemingly never-ending passage. By then, they must have realized that he had escaped That was about the time that they would come get him, at least according to the twisting in his stomach and to what seemed to be an internal clock that he had developed after being used to being in the dark for so long.

From the faint splashing in the distance and the small voices he could hear, they must have already started the search. He wasn't surprised that they had already started searching the tunnel; he was actually impressed that they had begun searching the place already. He thought he had more time before he would have to speed up the pace. The head start he had would help, but they had flashlights and wouldn't be stumbling through the darkness not to mention their physicality was probably better than his. So he pressed his hand against the wall and began to speed up, trying to watch his feet the best he could as not to fall again. He lurched forward, when his foot hooked under something hard and rough, pushing himself harder against the wall to keep him upright and to suppress a whimper. He just had to ignore the throbbing in his foot and continue on.

He had to keep the hope that seeing the light had given him, keep it close to his heart, and then very soon he would be out and free, something he hadn't even dreamt of since he was ten. The first year of him being there he had been so hopeful… But he had learned not to hope and dream of something so impossible. He had learned the hard way that no one would come for him that no one cared about his existence; he was no one important after all. He was just a lost soul with no memory of his past, just a slave. Eventually he had realized that if he were to ever even come close to getting what he wanted, he would have to achieve it himself. He could only rely on himself to get out of the situation he was in. He had to work for that freedom that he hadn't had since he was nine. And he had worked for it and he had gotten it. Or almost gotten it, this was the closest he had ever gotten to that freedom he hadn't seen in since he was brought there at the age of nine. He didn't even know how long he'd been there. There was no way to count the days because it was always dark and there was no way of telling the date. No one ever told him. But for some reason that day he left had felt right, and special. It was his day to run and achieve that freedom; at least he hoped he'd be able to achieve it.

He shook his head, almost as if he was trying to shake his thoughts out of his mind; he had to focus on getting out and to stop just thinking about it. He restricted his thoughts to only those of moving forward and the faint sound of running water coming from ahead of him and the sounds of footsteps sounding closer than they were just moments before. He had known that there was water flowing in the tunnel, but there was nothing that had sounded close to something like a waterfall in the passage as that sound did.

He tried to pick up the pace, the sound of his heart thumping loud in his ears, the constant reminder that he was alive and that he had to keep going. He'd make it to that light at the end of the tunnel, he was sure of it. The image of that girl flickered through his thoughts. He smiled a little, without realizing it, and kept the picture in his mind. He had this strange fondness for the girl that he wasn't sure was a vague memory or just someone that only appeared in his dreams. In his heart he knew he had to get out and find her, he had to survive to be able to find out if she actually exists or not… He would continue to the best of his minuscule abilities.

He was brought out of his thoughts suddenly as he felt his foot not land on anything, just swinging in midair before he began to tumble over the edge. He let out a horrified squawk as he fell over the cliff-like edge of the cement path that went alongside the water flowing in through the tunnel. He clinched his eyes shut and waited for whatever he was about to impact, to hit him. He landed in water, the first thing he felt being the searing sting of the cold all over his body. He hadn't expected to land in the water, so he swallowed a lot of it and felt his shin hit hard against the bottom of the concrete tunnel. He let out a shout of pain, muffled by the water that flowed into his nose and continually down his throat. He began to quickly swing his arms and kick his legs frantically to pull himself to the surface of the water. He choked and coughed up the liquid, inhaling large gulps of air, catching his breath and realizing that he was struggling to keep above water with the surprisingly strong current of it.

The fight for breath continued as the water splattered in his face. He tried to keep himself up the best he could with his worn out limbs and injured leg, the water dunked him back under once again. He had held his breath that time, and pushed off the bottom of tunnel with one leg as best as he could. He could blearily see beams of light from behind him when he arrived above the water, realizing that they had caught up to him. So he complied with the current and dove back under, trying his best to swim along with the flow and away from the lights, hoping they wouldn't notice him. He'd rather drown than get caught and have to go back there…

He kept swimming as long as he could before pushing to the surface once again, his soaked black hair sticking to his face as he took in as much air as possible before putting his energy into swimming again. He plunged back into the water once again; when he noticed the lights reflecting off the top of the water a little too close for comfort. He swam as hard as he could with his low energy, until he ran into a hard wall, scratching his fingers and palms along it before using the steadiness to bring him up from underneath the water.

He felt a moment of panic; the tunnel couldn't just end. He would have nowhere to run and he would be captured again and forced back. Fear gripped his body as he desperately searched for something that would help him, and then he suddenly realized the strong pull on the bottom half of his legs. He was hopeful, so he took a deep breath before going back under to get a look at what it was. His eyes burned, as he looked around in the water. He soon realized that the water flowed through a smaller hole, definitely something he wouldn't be able to swim through. He used the wall to rise back up once again and looked around as soon as the burning and blurriness faded away. He didn't want to be caught and dragged back only to be severely punished for trying to run away. He shuddered, partially from the mental image that the thought brought on and from the frigidness of the water. He hadn't really noticed how bone chilling the water was because of the adrenaline rush he had gotten from fearing for his life, but now it was coming at him at full body freezing force.

Now that his eyes were more adjusted, he noticed that the path alongside the flow of water had started again, or it had never ended and he had just conveniently fallen into the water instead of onto the path. Then he saw that there was a ladder against the wall, and just the slightest bit of light shining down from it. He could actually see semi-decently in the tunnel because of it. He swam eagerly over to the edge of the path and scrambled out of the water, wincing at the pain from his hands and from his leg. He swayed as he got up, steadying himself on the nearest solid object. He shivered when he felt the full force of the frosty air hit the entirety of his sopping wet body.

He stepped lightly towards the ladder, having to watch his feet since they were almost numb. He was trembling violently, and dreading that he would have to remove his hands that were wrapped around himself for warmth, to ascend the ladder. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms one last time before bringing his quivering fingers up to grasp one of he icy metal bars that led up the wall.

He was slow-moving at first, climbing the ladder shakily, and feeling like the column of bars were never going to go on forever. He was nearing the top when he felt something wrap around his ankle and _pull_. He slammed back against the rigid path, his head hanging just above the water. He felt pain shoot up his spine, and he bit his lip to keep himself from making any noise. They loved it when he made noises and he was not about to give them the satisfaction of hearing him in agony. He cursed under his breath, and leaned up on his forearms to glare at them. He couldn't believe he didn't hear them coming in the echoing sewer. How could he have missed them? There was three men, all of them sneering down at him. He bit back a scathing remark and waited for what they were going to do.

The first thing they did was kicking him roughly in the side. He clenched his jaw, keeping quiet and holding his side in pain.

"Thought you could get away from us, huh Lelouch?" the man who kicked him chuckled menacingly and kicked him again in the stomach with the full power of his leg.

Lelouch opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out but a sharp intake of breath. He wheezed and writhed on the ground in misery. He clutched at his necklace underneath his ripped and dirty, old shirt. He could feel the outline of the letter "L" through the cloth, his only remembrance of his past and the only thing keeping him grounded. He was pretty sure he would've gone insane or completely numb of emotion a long time ago if it wasn't for that necklace.

He smirked, looking at them with a spiteful stare and saying, "Oh, I didn't just 'think' it, I did it. I _will_ do it." With that, he stopped the obnoxious men mid-laughter when he swung his uninjured leg, causing one of the men to fall and hit his head on the hard, stone floor. He didn't care if the man was conscious or not, he up quickly, shoving the man's body into the water. He got up focusing on the other two, ignoring the splash of the man from behind him. One of the men glowered at him, and got out a knife. The other had a suspicious sly grin on their face as they moved closer. Lelouch grimace, truly realizing what he had gotten himself into by picking a fight with those men.

He stood in the best looking fighting stance as he braced himself for the men to attack. Then the guy lunged at him, stabbing the dagger into his shoulder. He couldn't hold in the screech of pain when he felt the knife fully in his shoulder. He stumbled back a little and held onto the handle of the knife and yanked. He yelped, but immediately held the weapon out defensively in front of him, realizing belatedly that they were closer than they were before.

The men both grabbed at him at once, one getting a large gash in the hand and letting out a scream, as Lelouch swung the knife wildly. The other successfully seized his arm in his grasp and tried to hold him down as he struggled like a trapped animal. In a small burst of panic, he shoved the knife into the man's eye, swiftly pulling the blood soaked weapon back and staring as the man's grip loosened, his body slinking dead, and empty to the ground. After he got out of his reverie, he saw there was an opening and he darted for it, climbing the ladder as fast as he could with the hilt of the knife stuffed in his mouth.

He pushed off the lid at the top and got halfway out when he felt someone pulling on his leg like before. He winced when his injured shin banged against the bars of the ladder as he tried to wiggle and shake his leg out of the man's death hold. He kicked his legs more, finally feeling his foot collide with something he assumed was the man's face. He scrambled out, panting and quivering. He got to his feet and, at the last minute, noticed an oncoming car honking at him. He cursed, jumped out of the way and heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the sewer. He silently thanked the reckless driver and sprinted, clasping the knife tightly in his hand.

He ran as far as he could before he started to get light-headed. He decided he was far enough away that it called for rest. He limped into an alley, sliding down against one of the walls next to a dumpster. It was early morning now; he guessed that he had been on the run all night. He had the barest of smiles as he saw the slightest bit of sunlight and took a deep breath of the freshly cold air. Freedom.

He rubbed his arms a little with the chill of the morning and felt his hand run over the bump underneath his skin. He frowned and looked down at it, wondering if that the bump in his arm was something they could use to track him He touched the lump with the pads of his fingers, it felt square and hard. He sighed, coming to the decision that it was worth the risk and picked the knife off its resting place on the ground beside him. He took off his shirt, shoving part of it into his mouth and readying the blade. He dug the tip into his arm next to the bump with a muffled scream. The blood oozed out at a steady pace, Lelouch not relenting at the discouraging sight of it. He then angled the sharp tool, cutting more flesh as he did it, to dig the tip under the object. Then, ever so carefully, he pulled the knife and thing out. He groaned at the feeling of the slow process, feeling the tip of scrape against the underside of his layer of skin. When he finally got it all out, he took the shirt out of his mouth and dried the object of his blood. A tracking device, huh? He suspected as much. He was going to throw it against the ground when he got a better idea. He could throw them off his trail completely, or at least for a little while.

After some time of rummaging through the local dumpsters, he finally found a ratty old blanket that he swiftly draped it around his shoulders. That way, it the nasty thing covered all of his cuts and bruises and didn't show obvious signs of him being in a fight of some sort. If they showed that would scare people away.

He enfolded the blanket closer to himself, looking down at a probably recent, newspaper. He glanced at the date, trying to figure out just how long he might've been in there. February 17th, 2021. That explained why it was cold, but it didn't really help him remember when his birthday was. He tallied up the years in his head, coming to the conclusion that he was born in the year 2000 or 1999 and that he was about twenty-one years old. And he had also realized he had been there for twelve years. He had spend twelve years rotting in that place and it felt like whatever potential sort of _life_ he could have had was taken right out of his hands by those bastards.

He grated his teeth together, trying to calm his bottomless disgust for the people that had done this to him. He heaved a sigh and walked out towards the outside of the alley, just at the edge leading out onto the sidewalk and to the street. He needed to focus on what he was going to do next. He felt fairly bad about what he was going to do, but it would keep them distracted long enough for him to get out of the city.

A grin crossed his face as he saw his opportunity, waiting patiently just outside the alley, snuggled up in his filthy blanket, that was probably just a towel. His awaiting opportunity was gradually approaching. The woman walked at an even pace down the sidewalk, looking as if she was taking a small break from a jog. Her red hair bounced with every step and her large chocolate Labrador trotted along beside her. When she reached where Lelouch was at, he put on his sweetest smile and asked, "May I pet your dog, ma'am?"

When the woman looked at him, her innocent seeming face turned sort of angry and annoyed. Her eyes turned into slits as she glared and brought her wrist up to check her watch hastily. She finally turned her head back towards him with a growl, "Fine, but hurry up. I don't have all day, y'know."

And suddenly, he didn't feel as bad about doing what he was going to do to the woman. He was actually feeling more sorry for the dog. He rubbed the dog all over, acting friendly, and scratching underneath the animal's chin. He acted like he was looking at the dog's tags while he slipped the chip in between the clasps of the collar. When he was sure it was secure, he stopped and smiled the best he could at the girl once again with a, "Thank you".

The redhead muttered, "Whatever" and sauntered off, grumbling some other unintelligible things as she went into the distance. With that, step one was complete. Now, all he needed was a form of transportation, money, and to make sure his wounds didn't get infected and probably some stitches if possible. Then once he was sure that they would stop coming after him, he would come back to fulfill his promise. But before he could even began to do any of that he would need to make sure he had food, rest and healing. He couldn't risk going to the hospital, so he would have to resort to stealing. Somewhere inside of him his pride hurt knowing he would have to lower himself to stealing, but he couldn't let that get in the way. His pride meant very little to him at that point and he couldn't let it mean more than it should.

He sighed and decided that that would be it for the day until nightfall. He found a dumpster to sit behind in a nearby alley, keeping him away from the view of the buzz of the busy street. He got as comfortable as he could with itchy dried blood on his arms, open wounds and having to sit up in a mucky, cold alleyway. But it didn't take long for the complete exhaustion and loss of blood to consume him in utter darkness and sending him into a dreamless sleep, something he hadn't had for quite a while.

* * *

The pads of a girl's fingers slid over the "N" charm hanging on the end of the necklace that was dangling from around her smooth neck. She stared back at herself in the mirror, her eyes revealing many different emotions in her violet hued eyes. She had a look of discontent on her face that could be taken as unhappiness, but to everyone that knew the girl; it was the natural she wore before parties or on the day of her brother's death. It especially wasn't surprising to people considering that the day held both of the unpleasantries.

He small pink lips, covered in a light, shiny gloss, were shaped into a tiny frown on her delicate face. Her lavender eyes, oh so similar to that of her deceased brother's, her mind would always supply when she gazed at them staring back at her, showed such distress. They were filled with a deep sadness and despair; something very uncommon for the girl and it made her eyes less light and happy than their norm. The cheerful gleam in her eyes she had was gone wholly, almost as if it never existed.

She examined herself, glancing up and down at her expensive appearing dress. The dress was simple for the most part, yet so elegant and "lady-like". It had gold trimming and pretty lace adorning the dress. It looked almost too beautiful to be on her. She sighed, reaching up to pull the pin out of her bun. She let the bun fall apart, her long wavy hair being unleashed and flowing down past her shoulders and stopping just past her tailbone. She ran her hands through her hair deftly, getting out the little tangles in the long mess of beige. She sighed once again, but more heavily. Lelouch always loved her hair, she thought. With that thought she had unconsciously rested her hand on the necklace. The necklace that she had gotten on that Christmas from Lelouch before everything happened. Before everything fell to pieces. He had gotten a necklace just like it, with his initial as well. It was something special that they shared. Many told her to stop wearing it, because of the grief it would bring her, but if she did that it would feel like she was forgetting about him. She couldn't do that to him.

She sniffled, holding back the tears. She needed to not mess up her slight amount of makeup. She needed to look strong, especially on a day like that day. Like she wasn't still mourning her brother's death.

"My lady… Princess Nunnally, it's time," the guard told her, finally catching her attention through her thick cloud of thoughts. He had been sitting in a low bow for some time, trying to not to raise his voice and be rude to get her to notice. He understood why she was acting like she was, and he had no right to be disrespectful.

"I'm sorry, Jeremiah. Thank you," Nunnally gave him a grateful smile, wiped her eyes and gestured for him to rise. She had lost track of time and she was happy that there was something to keep her distracted, albeit it _was_ a party. She nodded to the guard, signaling that she was ready to go. She began to walk out, the man falling into step behind her with ease.

She shuffled to the ballroom, taking a deep breath before stepping out into the gala and flamboyance that was a royal party. She talked her way through the crowd, greeting people she hardly remembered. She strolled up to stand at the front of the party, next to her sister Euphemia. They exchanged smiles, but what looked pleasant and sweet to onlookers, was obviously faked and strained to the older princess. Worry creased the lilac eyes of Euphemia as she looked at her younger half-sister. The pain in her sister's eyes was visible, and it was saddening. Slowly, rosy haired woman reached her hand out to grasp the others. It was an honest and comforting gesture. She moved their hands, keeping them squeezed together, to hide them behind her dress. She was afraid that Nunally would reject her at first, but she followed willingly. She beamed when the younger squeezed her hand back, showing that she really accepted the comfort.

Nunnally kept a carefully constructed smile on her face as she looked upon the people in the ballroom, but she could feel the smile falter as her mind began to wonder. Why today? Of all the days to have a party it had to be the day of her brother's death anniversary. It was the only day when she wished to do nothing but shut herself in her room and mourn for her brother. It was almost like her family was testing her with the party to see if the strong princess appearance would break.

She could feel warm breath whisk against her ear as she heard her sister's soft voice whisper, "It's alright Nunnally."

Without realizing it, Nunnally had let a tear slip down her face, and her sister had noticed. She wiped her tear as subtly and quickly as she could. She could cry all she wanted when she arrived to her room later in the night, but not then. Not in front of all of those people. She didn't want them to think her weak and feeble hearted; she had to be strong like her mother was. She couldn't look like she was still struggling over her family's deaths even after twelve years.

She smiled at her sister, trying to make it appear sincere and walked away, slipping her hand away from the other and disappearing into the sea of people. With her confidence somewhat back, Nunnally spend the rest of the night mingling with the people of the court, trying to avoid letting her thoughts stray back to her brother and how much she missed him. And, eventually, she would go back to her room and let her tears finally flow.

* * *

_Constructive Criticism is welcome._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Miscalculations**

A heavy sigh left the lips of the young, tanned male as he turned the key to his small apartment. He removed the tiny metal from its slot in the door and turned the knob, opening the door to his home and hoping to get some food in himself and some much needed sleep from a tiring day of work. Although, he hated calling it work, today had been hard on everybody present at his workplace. Or should he say workpalace? He snickered internally at his dumb little pun as he walked into his apartment and shut the door. He could hear some scampering of nails hitting the hardwood floor over to him and then the feeling of something wet and slimy licking his left hand all over, but he wasn't paying attention to it, because he realized he no longer wanted to be in the dainty little place like he originally thought. He could hear incessant moans coming from one of the bedrooms. Then, he decided, he'd just go on a small walk and come back after a good 30 minutes and only when they were done, he would resume what he had planned on his initial arrival home. And so, he turned on his heel, walked back out of the apartment, closed the white, chipping door and locked up once again, and headed out to the sidewalk for a late night walk.

He loved his roommates, he thought as he began his walk through the cold night, but they were horndogs. They had formerly all moved in together because it was cheap and they all shared a workplace, but as time went on the three occupied bedrooms turned into only two as Gino and Kallen had become a couple and only ever shared a room. Then they grew closer and closer as time went on and in the previous year decided to get a dog, much to his own discontent, for he wasn't consulted on the matter. And now, they seemed like they had their own little family, and he was just someone crashing at their place for a long period of time. He could feel them growing apart as they got closer and they no longer worked with each other which made matters all the more awkward between all of them.

When they had all worked together, even when the two were an item, things had been fine and just how they should be, they were simple grunts, guards who guarded the outside of the palace or if requested, a specific royal. Considering the royalty of the palace had become extremely paranoid after an attack that shattered much of the family within the palace, it was no surprise that the amount of protection around the palace was significantly increased. And certain royalty had guards assigned specifically and solely to them, and that position, was what Sir Suzaku Kururugi that being himself, was promoted to. He felt that the promotion had put a dent in their relationship, as if out of jealousy. And it was all because he had briefly been close to Princess Nunnally and her brother when he first moved to Britannia.

Once Nunnally had realized that he had become a soldier for the palace she promoted him to be one of her personal guards, and since she had been one of the objects of the attack so many years ago, she was permitted to have as many guards as she wanted and whoever of her choosing. Although people of other races were not very well respected in Britannia after the incident, but because the Princess insisted and he had sworn his loyalty to her brother once, they allowed him the position. He was still very much hated by his peers at times, but he loved Nunnally like a brother and wished to protect her like he had once sworn. After the attack he had sworn to protect the last of the family that protected him when he first moved to the country, although their father was still alive, he was the King and a wrathful one at that, so his protection was sworn to only Nunnally. He still wished that he could be returning the favor to the whole family that housed and protected him and his mother as a boy, but they were killed that night. He remembered when he first arrived in Britannia and how it scared him that he only barely knew the language, but his mother had assured him that they were going to live with a nice family that they would protect them. She had told him that her friend Marianne would let them stay with them and that he could play with her children and that her boy happened to be right around his age. That had given him slight comfort, but what he was most afraid of was if his father would come for them. His cruel and abusive father that had given him nightmares for years was what troubled him the most.

He shook the memories from his mind, and rubbed his eyes. He was so tired from the long day. And today had made it exactly twelve years since the family was killed, well since Lelouch was killed, he though sadly. His mother was hospitalized that day and died in one of her surgeries a couple days later. Bearing in mind that today was the anniversary of his death, it made the day exceptionally exhausting. Keeping Nunnally's spirits up usually wasn't a challenge, or something he had to normally worry about in general, but she had a party to attend today and this was the only day a year that she mourned what she had lost. His fellow guard Jeremiah, and himself were fussing over her all day and it was tiring.

He let out what felt like his hundredth sigh for the day and halted his mind from wondering any further. He stopped walking, looking at his surroundings and realizing he was so lost in thought that he wasn't paying any attention to where his feet were taking him. He sighed for his hundred and first time, and looked around, seeing he was not in a relatively good part of the city and running his hand through his messy curls. Then, suddenly he heard a cute little meow from behind him, and a petite kitty rubbing against his leg. He smiled down at the furry thing, that he had named Arthur some time ago. The stray cat must have followed him on his late night walk and decided since he was stopped to get some pets. He reached down and scratched the back of the cat's head, earning him a growl and his hand being bitten in return. He let out a quiet 'ow' and withdrew his hand, looking angrily at the hateful kitty that scurried down the alleyway that they were standing next to. He grumbled and followed the cat, hoping to actually catch the devious thing as he'd been trying to the past month since he found it. He knew it would earn him a scratch or two, but he thought that maybe if he took him home and got him neutered, he would bite and scratch less. The cat eventually stopped and was looking curiously around farther down the alleyway. 'This was his chance!' he thought and hurried over and scooping him up with a proud 'aha'. He then noticed what the cat had stopped for.

"Holy shit…!" he yelped.

* * *

*About an hour prior*

Lelouch awoke still very much tired, hungry, and light-headed either from dehydration or the blood loss. Or both, he concluded. He _had _lost a lot of blood that day. He wondered if he had slept so long that he had slept through the next day, but he figured that he'd be dead if he bled out for that long, so he settled on it being the night of the day he escaped. With how dark it was out, his theory did make some sort of sense. He shuddered with how cold he suddenly realized he was, the temperature had dropped quite a bit since the morning, he thought. He unraveled himself from the blanket he donned and stretched out all of his achy bones from sitting in the same place for many hours. He rubbed his violet eyes to try to wake himself up a little more, finding that it seemed to only make him even more tired than he already was. He sighed, stood, and stretched some more and heard his back pop pleasingly. He hissed when he put pressure on his leg after standing, feeling pain from his shin suddenly spike. He leaned against the side of the building in the alley, trying to avoid putting any further pressure on his leg. He didn't remember it hurting that badly before. Had he broken the bone, or maybe he just fractured it, he wondered. Frowning and pulling up the bottom of his muddy pants, he stared at the colorfulness of his shin. There was a bloody cut where he felt most of the pain, and various color of bruising around it, from green to a deep purple like his eyes. He carefully touched the wound, grimacing when he felt the sting from where his finger skimmed it. Feeling around the area cautiously, he deemed it just a very bad cut or a possible fracture since he didn't feel anything that felt like a broken bone. So he chalked it up to his overreaction making him think it was broken and the immense amount of pain. It was nothing too serious that would hinder him horribly.

He shrugged it off and bent over to pick up the knife left abandoned on the ground next to him, and shoved it into the back of his pants, pushing his shirt down over it to hide the weapon. He limped down the alley, sliding his hand along the wall for support, and peeking around the corner once he reached the end that opened up into the street. The streets and sidewalks were empty, and if he hadn't seen how busy the streets would get during the day, he would've thought the area to be almost like a ghost town. He stepped onto the sidewalk and decided to start scouting for someplace to steal from. He would take it slow and rely on putting his weight on any nearby wall until it came time to run, just to save his energy.

He made his way down the street, through some backstreets, before coming to a semi-decent looking apartment building. The barest of smiles ghosted his face as he made his way to the building and to an easily accessible window on the ground floor. The window was open just a crack, as if the owner of the room thought that it was getting too stuffy and decided to open the window just enough to ventilate it, or maybe the window just couldn't close all the way. He shoved his fingers in between the crack and his skinny pale fingers curled around the pane of the window. Once he had a firm grip, he pushed upwards slowly, opening it inch by inch until it was barely big enough for him to squeeze through.

He crawled warily through the window, stepping as light as a feather on the darkly carpeted floor of the apartment. He made his way around, searching for any valuables, stray cash, maybe a first aid kit, and some food. He grabbed a couple of bananas off the counter and opened the fridge as quietly as he could, and snatched a couple of water bottles as well. The he noticed a large paper bag lying on the counter, as if awaiting him, and as delicately as possible placed the bananas, bottles, and some canned goods he found in one of the cabinets into the bag. He smiled to himself with the knowledge he'd have something to eat for the next few days.

Next, he hunted through the apartment for money and valuables, taking a few expensive look glass trinkets from a display case sitting atop a cabinet. Stumbling across a jar that looked to be full of some sort of savings, he took about half of the money that was in there, finding it to be about $400 or so. Finally spotting a set of keys and a wallet on a coffee table next to the couch in the small living room of the apartment, he dug through the wallet, deciding to only take the cash in it. The car and the credit cards would be too easy to trace, his mind supplied.

Now that he had everything he absolutely needed, it was time to leave. Being so proud of himself that he had even found a first aid kit while he was looking for some of the canned food. He snuck back over to his bag and picked it up, not realizing the he left the jar out next to it. Thus when he went to go lift the bag up, the little cookie jar went sliding off the countertop and smashing against the ground. A miscalculation, he had gotten too ahead of himself and now he was going to get caught stealing. Repeatedly cussing in his mind, he frantically limped rapidly over to the window and tossed the bag out. He had the front half of his body through the window when he heard a furious deep voice yell, "Hey!" Lelouch, in a state of alarm, pushed as much as he could through the slim space between the window and the wooden rim beneath. He could hear the man's footsteps getting louder as the man rushed up behind him to pull him back. Lelouch finally managed to jam himself through the window and flop onto the ground, in a very displeasingly inelegant fashion, next to his bag of goodies. Immediately, he jumped at the bag and clutched it to his chest. Keeping the bag close, he got up to make a break for it.

Lelouch heard the gunshot echo around him before he felt it. The bullet pierced through the lower right side of his back and clean out the front of his body. Covering his mouth as he yelled, he tried to keep as quiet as he could, but he had never felt pain such as this. It was excruciating. Trying to move to get out of any other line of fire, he knew he was highly aware of the growing warmth of the sticky, crimson blotch forming on his shirt. He ran into a different alleyway, looking at things, trying to memorize where everything was and little trademarks before shoving his bag into an empty garbage can, considering the extra weight a hindrance. He checked behind him before running off in a completely different direction. Making a decent distance after awhile, enough for him to be safe for sometime, his legs had finally decided to give out and he hit the ground with a pained grunt. He laid in the middle of the wet and muddy alley slowly bleeding out, slowly dying. He knew that death was close because he was so warm. So much warmer than he feels like he's ever been, like a mother's embrace. He smiled to himself ruefully and with a raspy whisper, he let his heavy eyes shut.

"I'm sorry… Nunnally."

* * *

Suzaku's eyes were wide as he stared at the bleeding figure on the ground in front of him. Rushing over to man on the ground he started flipping him carefully over from his facedown position on the wet concrete. He sighed in relief when he noticed the other's chest moving slowly up and down, he had feared the man might've been dead. He couldn't really see the man, with how dark it was, but he could tell the gender and that was about it.

"Are you alright?" he spoke fairly loudly to the unconscious man. He repeated the question a few more times. When he didn't respond, he got out his phone to call the police when abruptly he felt an ice-cold hand catch his wrist in the middle of him dialing the number. He moved his phone to see the man's face and he realized how young and thin the man looked. And he was even more shocked than he previously was with how much he resembled someone he once knew. The captivating violet eyes and the black hair, the structure of his face even resembled him, Prince Lelouch. All thoughts of that dropped when the man's chapped lips moved for him to speak.

"No… No police.. No hospital, please," he uttered weakly. If it hadn't been as quiet as it was, he would not have heard the quiet little rasp of the other's voice. Suzaku didn't understand, but he knew he had to get him help somehow.

"It's all right if you're afraid of hospitals, they won't hurt you, but I have to get you help," Suzaku told him gently. The man's eyes widened like a doe caught in headlights, jerking himself up quickly.

"No! I can't go to a hospital!" Lelouch cut himself off with a hiss as he grabbed his side, like the outburst had hurt him. "Please, I can't," he begged quietly, as if he was trying to make up for yelling, his eyes hooded with the haziness of pain and maybe relaxation covered his eyes.

A million questions went through Suzaku's mind, but he decided now was not the time for questions. He nodded unsurely to the other, which, much to his surprise, made the other smile and close his eyes. 'Did he just die? People don't just die like that, right?' he frantically thought. Suzaku was internally panicking until he recognized that he was indeed still alive, just once again unconscious. Many thoughts rushed through his head as he tried to sit the boy up, to get a better grip on him. He needed to take him somewhere and his mind went a mile a minute trying to come up with a solution when suddenly he came to one. 'Lloyd!' he thought happily. He could help; after all he was technically a doctor. He wrapped one arm underneath his back and the other under his legs and lifted. The boy was so much lighter than he had thought, he knew he was going to be light, but he was practically weightless in his arms. Not caring that he was getting the other's blood all over himself, he held him bridal style. And as he was holding him, he truly felt how boney and thin the other was and, a look of sympathy washed over his face as he looked down at the stranger.

He held the other close and began to lightly jog back towards the street and down it, hoping that finding where he was going would be easy. And after about 5 minutes he came across the street sign that would lead up to his house around the corner and he knew exactly where he was. From there, he sped up, worrying that if he didn't make it, he'd have a dead man on his hands, literally.

He was barely panting or breaking a sweat by the time he made it to his destination after a couple block jog, while holding the bleeding man. He knocked on the door to the lab, hoping Lloyd was the same as always and practically lived there and pulled his usual all-nighters. He checked the man's pulse while he waited for the door to be answered. Lelouch was still alive… He shook the thought away. Lelouch is and was dead. He died twelve years ago. This was just a homeless man who looked remarkably similar to the little boy he remembered from his past. He couldn't be alive, not after what happened.

The door opened with a very oily looking Lloyd staring at him quizzically and then with a smirk. "You've finally come to help me with my project have you?" he spoke knowingly with a wide grin. Then he seemed to notice the man in his arms and his smile dropped. "Or rather you need my help?" he questioned, gestured quickly for Suzaku to come in.

Suzaku hurriedly walked in, not surprised to see that he was keeping Cecile so late and that all the others had gone home. The navy haired woman gasped at the boy in his arms and rushed over to him, helping him set the other on the table. She stared at the blood staining them, praying it was all the strangers and not the kind Japanese man's. Then she felt horrible for feeling that way, but she cared for Suzaku like a son.

Suzaku turned to the man adorning the lab coat. "Lloyd I need you to help him. He refused to go to the hospital and you're the only one I could think of to help. Please, he's dying," he pleaded to the light purple haired man. The doctor looked thoughtful for a second then nodded slowly looking down at the man on the table.

"All right, but in your free time, you're helping me with my project for the next two weeks," Lloyd smirked at the other. He could hear Cecile scolding him from beside him for making Suzaku work and not taking the situation seriously when Suzaku held out his hand and agreed.

"That's fine, I'll do whatever," Suzaku agreed seriously as he shook the mischievous doctor's hand. With that, Suzaku picked up the homeless man and brought him into the other room where there was a table centered in the room and where Lloyd kept all of his tools and such. It's also where he kept all of his things for when one of his workers might get hurt during a project or experiment. Needless to say, Lloyd had patched up quite a few of his previous employees. There was even some of their dried blood on the floor that he didn't care enough to clean up.

After everything was set up, Lloyd quickly shooed the tan boy out of the room, locking the door and beginning his procedure. Suzaku then decided to seat himself at a chair nearby and wait patiently for Lloyd to finish. Cecile sat next to him when he did. She smiled at him gently and he smiled half-heartedly back. And he knew that Cecile could tell that it wasn't really sincere, it was obvious that he was worried over the stranger.

"He'll make it Suzaku. Lloyd may not value life the same way we do, and can be very careless, reckless and all around belligerent, but he's very skilled. Put faith in him," she soothingly told him, with a hand on his shoulder. He nodded ever so slightly with a small grin on his face as his emerald eyes locked with hers. She knew he was worried just because he's a caring person in general and he values the lives of people more than anything, but she felt there was something more going on. He wouldn't be _this _worried over someone he just met unless there was something special about the boy. "Um, Suzaku… Can I ask you something? About the boy?" she began hesitantly. When she saw the curiosity in his eyes she continued, "Why are you so worried about him? Not to be rude, but he's just a stranger, right?"

Suzaku looked bemused and to be deep in thought for a couple of minutes, really rolling the questions over in his mind. He was confused about that himself. He wasn't sure why he cared so much. And then he came to the conclusion that he wanted to avoid the most, that he looked like the lost prince. He had the royal purple eyes and his black hair and everything really. He just saw the little boy he used to know and it was like he was waiting for the little Lelouch that was in there, possibly dying. Albeit he fully knew that wasn't who the man was, but somehow he still couldn't stop himself from worrying.

"I.. I think it's because he looks like Lelouch. The prince I used to play with when I was little, the one that disappeared. I don't know," he tried to explain, looking even more perplexed. Suzaku knew that somewhere inside of him, he wanted to say that Lelouch never died and the one in the other room was the real one, and that maybe he just had lived on the streets because he was lost or something happened to him. Maybe he'd wake up in the morning and declare that he's the prince and that he's been in hiding the past twelve years. But Suzaku didn't know what to think.

"I can see why that would make you worried, but Suzaku he can't be the prince. The prince died so long ago and he's just a stranger you met on the streets and he was dying. Don't let this idea of him possibly being someone else hinder your common sense. What I'm saying is don't get too attached, you'll just be disappointed in the end," Cecile told him sternly yet tenderly, trying to get her point across without sounding harsh. She smiled at him and stood. "I'm heading home for the night, and you should, too. Don't wait up for him all night; I'm sure he'll be here in the morning. Go home and get some rest," she said, and ruffled his hair before grabbing her purse and leaving. Letting the information sink and settle in the other.

After some contemplating, he decided to go home, get some sleep and bring by some clothes and food for the other in the morning. And so, catching up to Cecile who kindly gave him a ride home, he came back to his apartment after what felt like one of the most exhausting days of his life. He walked into his apartment quietly, thinking that his roommates were asleep and shut the door behind him. Then, he realized the lights were on and he saw that Gino and Kallen were sitting on the couch together, watching TV on a very low volume. When they noticed him they both turned to him with almost worried looking faces.

"What's going on?" the bemused brunette questioned curiously. It was so strange for them to be up as late as it was. And they looked like they were going to stay up longer as it was.

"I guess you weren't home when it happened," Kallen started, grabbing the remote and turning the TV off with a small whimper from her blonde boyfriend sitting next to her. "The police came by and questioned everyone in the building. The guy on the bottom floor of the building said that someone broke into his apartment and stole a bunch of his stuff. He was shooting at the intruder and everything. We were waiting for you to get home to ask if you saw anything," she explained seriously.

Suzaku was surprised to hear that. Their building wasn't the greatest looking and it definitely didn't look like the richest people lived there. And that wasn't the only thing that was surprising, it was the almost accusing look that Kallen was giving him, like he had something to do with it. "Um, well I wasn't home at all, so I didn't know anything about it until now. I'm shocked to hear it actually," Suzaku practically defended, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack and then sliding off his shoes. Kallen glared at him slightly before she seemed to brush the subject off and took Gino's hand as they got up and walked away to their bedroom. Suzaku rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to grab an apple and head to his own room to get some much-needed sleep.

* * *

Suzaku showed up bright and early the next day at Lloyd's lab. Cecile let him in and told him that the man was in the same room Lloyd left him in last night. He briefly spoke to Lloyd about last night, Lloyd telling him that there were so many things wrong with the kid being stabbed and shot and among other things. Suzaku thought he'd be surprised at that kind of news, but found he wasn't. With how much the other was bleeding, considering.

He walked into the room where Lloyd informed him the other would be and found that the stranger was up and about and opening the window in the room, looking like he was going to leave. The ebony haired boy turned to him when he heard the other open the door, looking like he had been caught doing something horrible by his mother. "Um… Hi. I brought you some clothes and some food," he said timidly, and almost in a whisper, like if he were too loud he'd scare the other off. With the mention of food it almost seemed to make the boy perk up, and decide against leaving.

Lelouch approached him and took the items out of his hands, murmuring a 'thank you' and, setting the things on the table in the room. He turned around and stripped quickly before putting on the lent clothes, although they were considerably larger, he didn't seem to mind. Suzaku noticed though, that the other had gorgeous pale skin, but his back was marred with all kinds of scars. It seemed like he had lived a difficult life up to that point and Suzaku was so curious about the other, about what he's been through and who he was.

Next thing he knew, the stranger was gobbling down the food like he hadn't eaten in years and was up and trying to leave through the window again. Suzaku smiled and laughed a little when the other realized they were on the second floor and that in his condition the landing would surely hurt. Lelouch then turned; looking slightly irritated and tried to walk past him. Suzaku stood firmly in front of the door, looking down slightly at the other.

"What's your name?" Suzaku unexpectedly asked, which startled both of them. He was nervous and wanted to ask so many things, but it definitely looked like the other wouldn't want to open up about much, so he started with the simplest thing he could think of.

Lelouch looked like he wasn't going to say anything for a second, and then he figured that the other wasn't going to move unless he said something that satisfied him. "The name they gave me is Lelouch," he said with a blank face in an almost monotonous voice. He really just wanted to leave, but he thought he might as well throw the dog a bone, since he gave him food and clothing. And since for some reason, the guy seemed so damn familiar. He _did_ also practically save his life. "Can I leave now?" he asked impatiently, trying to brush past him.

'Lelouch? Why did he phrase it so weirdly? They gave him the name?' the other thought stunned. But they had the same name! The same face, the same name, the same everything! Maybe he was just getting his hopes up or overreacting, but them meeting on his death anniversary and with everything that happened can't just be pure coincidence. "Wait!" Suzaku suddenly yelped, slamming himself against the door. The look of annoyance and anger on the other's face reminded him so much of the short-tempered child he used to know. "You can stay at my place if you don't have a home. I have an extra room," he blurted without thinking, but found that he didn't really regret saying it.

Lelouch looked appalled when he asked, "You'd really let a stranger into your home? Are you crazy? Why would you suggest such a thing?" This man that he only met yesterday must've been a charity worker with an _extremely_ open heart or a serial killer, and he's not sure if he would trust either of those.

"I… It's just you look like someone I used to know and I don't think you're a bad person and you look like you need somewhere to stay," he hastily explained not trying to sound creepy or anything to the other. He wanted Lelouch to trust him and he wanted to know so much more about him. He was just so fascinated and curious about him.

"Thank you, but I think I'll be all right on my own," Lelouch refused, walking past a very crestfallen looking Suzaku and out the door. He walked through what looked to be a military lab of sorts, before the other stopped him once again.

"Here, this is my address if you ever need a place to stay," Suzaku insisted, pushing the piece of paper towards him persistently, with a small embarrassed blush on his face, but still somehow managed to look determined. Lelouch sighed and took the paper, shoving it into his pocket and telling him 'thank you' once again. The Japanese boy looked happy enough with him at least taking the paper. Lelouch began to walk away again before he stopped.

"What's _your_ name?" Lelouch inquired. The brunette looked absolutely elated to have the other curious of him as well and wanting to know about him, even just a bit.

"My name is Suzaku, Suzaku Kururugi," Suzaku said happily, grinning from ear to ear at the black-haired boy. Lelouch wanted to roll his eyes at how excited the other was, but he didn't have the heart to.

"Well, thank you Suzaku. I hope we meet again," Lelouch said with a small smile, turning away and walking out of the lab. Now he had to go back to where Suzaku had found him and then somehow find that garbage can he dumped his bag of stolen things in and find somewhere to stay for the night. Maybe he would just use the money to get out of town for a little while, maybe find someway to discretely make money without having to find a job. And somehow he _had_ to figure out why that guy was so familiar to him before it drove him crazy.

While Lelouch debated on what to do next, Suzaku thought about the boy he met and the little Lelouch he knew when he was little. They were so similar and yet the older one felt so much more different to him, like something dramatically changed him. Maybe the scars and the reason he got shot had something to do with it? Maybe he could have one of the other soldiers investigate into any dirty organizations that may be lurking in the city.

* * *

Bright, matted orange hair splayed almost never-endingly down a plane of pale peach. The figure of a naked and lightly scarred woman trembling ever so slightly, sat alone in a dark room with no windows and no light, with the exception of the small stream of light leaking out from the cracks of the locked and bolted door of the room. A thin hand held a tattered and torn piece of paper with sloppy but legible handwriting on it. The note read, "I'll come back for you" and the woman whimpered with a sad smile on her face.

* * *

_Sorry it's been a while, but there it is. Constructive criticism is always welcome._


End file.
